Protesters call in vain for talks after clashes leave dozens dead

AFP - Thailand's "Red Shirt" protesters appealed in vain Sunday for UN-mediated talks with the government after three days of violent street battles in the capital left 31 people dead and 230 wounded.

By Luke SHRAGO Protest leaders say the situation is close to civil war.

Loud explosions and volleys of gunshots rang out into the night near the rally site and three commercial buildings were gutted by fire.

A top protest leader urged the revered king to intervene in the crisis, which has turned areas of the city of 12 million people into no-go zones as troops use live ammunition against demonstrators, some of them armed.

The Reds, whose vast base in the heart of Bangkok is under siege by troops, said they were ready to enter peace talks with the government "immediately" as long as the United Nations mediated.

"We want the UN because we don't trust we will receive justice from organisations in Thailand," protest leader Nattawut Saikuar said as the death toll from the urban warfare jumped by seven Sunday.

The idea was quickly shot down by the government, which has repeatedly warned foreign governments not to meddle in its affairs.

"No governments allow any organisations to intervene in their internal affairs," spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said.

Understanding the colour-coded crisis

Previous talks between the two sides have failed to reach an agreement, despite an offer -- since withdrawn -- by the embattled premier to hold elections in November if the opposition demonstrators go home.

Authorities said they would send workers from the Red Cross to help protesters -- particularly women, children and the elderly -- who want to leave the vast protest area in the heart of the capital by 3:00 pm (0800) Monday.

"Men can also leave the site but they have to show they are unarmed," army spokesman Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd told reporters.

The army put off a plan to impose a curfew in parts of the city but did not rule out restricting night-time movements if the situation worsens.

The wounded include six foreigners, from Canada, Italy, Liberia, Myanmar, New Zealand and Poland.

Authorities warned journalists to stay out of the main protest site, saying they were an easy target for "terrorists." Four reporters have been shot and injured and one killed in Bangkok since the unrest began in March.

The government extended a state of emergency to five more provinces, ordered schools to stay shut Monday and declared two days of national holidays to keep civilians off the streets as they battled for control of the city.

Violent clashes continued on the fringes of the Red Shirts' sprawling encampment Sunday as a swathe of the city was shrouded in black smoke after demonstrators torched piles of tyres in roads.

Three commercial buildings caught fire on Rama IV road, where some of the worst of the fighting has occurred, apparently because of sparks from the piles of burning tyres, emergency services said.

Protesters tried to stop fire trucks arriving at the scene, a local firefighter said by telephone.

"We tried not to fight with the protesters in the area," he said, adding that nobody was hurt in the blazes.

Facing a military armed with assault rifles, the protesters have fought with homemade weapons including Molotov cocktails, fireworks, slingshots, and burning tyres.

Some demonstrators have been seen with handguns. The authorities say grenades have also been fired by militants opposed to the government.

All of the fatalities in recent days have been civilians. New York-based Human Rights Watch said Thai authorities were on a "slippery slope" towards serious human rights abuses by designating "live fire zones."

The Reds called on the king to intervene, saying he was the "only hope" for an end to the two-month-old crisis, which has left 61 people dead and about 1,700 wounded, including 25 fatalities in a failed army crackdown on April 10.

"As people in this country, we would like his kindness," Jatuporn Prompan told reporters at the rally site, where thousands of protesters were camped.

"I believe Thais will feel the same, that His Majesty is our only hope."

King Bhumibol Adulyadej chastised both the military and protest leaders during a 1992 uprising, effectively bringing the violence to an end, but has avoided commenting directly on the current crisis in public.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva vowed there would be no turning back on the government's policy of sealing the protesters inside their fortified camp.

The Reds accuse Abhisit's government of being elitist and undemocratic because it came to power in a 2008 parliamentary vote after a court ruling ousted elected allies of their hero, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thai society is deeply divided between the urban elite and rural poor, with most of the Red Shirts from the north and impoverished northeast.